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Africa in Islam Radical of Expansion the Study Case a As Mozambique The Expansion of Radical Islam in Africa - Mozambique as a Case Study Dr. Eitan Azani and Dr. David Duchan January 2020 1 The Expansion of Radical Islam in Africa - Mozambique as a Case Study Preamble 2020 was a good year for radical Islamic terrorist organizations in Africa. While the rest of the world tried to contain and curb the Covid-19 pandemic as well as work frantically toward a vaccine, the former’s activity expanded and claimed the lives of thousands, turned hundreds of thousands into refugees in their own countries and further destabilized governments’ rule in vast regions in the continent. The cycle of violence has expanded to include more countries. De facto, as opposed to the common opinion that north Africa (the Maghreb), the Sahel region together with Nigeria (Lake Chad) and Somalia (in the Horn of Africa) are conspicuous fighting theaters for radical Islamic organizations, the entire continent (including its eastern and southern regions) is mired in fighting kinetic terrorism and subversion by radical Islamic organizations that are not always connected to one another. In this document we will discuss the obvious question - why is it so? We will review the background and the main reasons for this phenomenon and focus on Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province’ case, which threatens the country and the entire region’s stability. The above question has several answers, none of which is simple. Prior to attempting to provide them, we should note one historical fact - Africa’s story has always been laced with violence and wars. Background African countries that gained independence in the 1960s roll into a war dynamic that over time and events that have transpired affected the continent’s security situation and shaped it. At first, the national liberation wars set the tone. The second half of the twentieth century was typified by rise of demands for independence of armed groups that resorted to violence to liberate themselves and cast away the colonialist/imperialist forces that ruled their country as well as exact revenge on collaborators with the latter. Case studies such Cameroon, Madagascar, Kenya, Angola and Algeria provide a lot of insight and are significant in this context. The violent wave ruled. Military and civilian coups became a common sight in the continent and 2 drove some countries into a state of inertia wherein bloodshed, revenge and extreme violence became routine. During the last 50 years, Africa has seen more than 70 coups in 26 different countries, 60% of those in French speaking countries. Additionally, several countries had to contend with isolated or isolationist armed movements that claimed sovereignty and autonomy while using terrorism and guerilla warfare: Casamance in southern Senegal, Eritrea in North West Ethiopia, Katanga in in the southeastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Azawad in northern Mali and Ambazonia in Cameroon provided prime examples for such claims. A genocide, such as the one that took place in Rwanda and cost the lives of more than 1.5 million Tutsi between April and July 1994 is also an example of the lethal inter-ethnic and inter-faith conflicts that take place in Africa. Other examples would be clashes between the Hutu and Tutsi in Burundi, Kikuyu and Lous in Kenya, Bete and Dioula in the Ivory Coast, Nuer and Dinka in South Sudan, Bayangu and Bororos in Cameroon and Seleka and Antibalaka in the Central African Republic. It is safe to say that radical Islamic terrorism is another facet of said historic violence. Terrorism put down roots in various regions in Africa and replaces the civil wars of yester years. The flourishing of radical Islamic terrorism is connected to multiple causes, primarily: (i) socio- economic (poverty, unemployment, famine, diseases and drug trafficking); (ii) political (2011 Arab Spring, weak central government and lack of control in distant parts of the country); (iii) geo-political connections (reexamination of the post WWI borders, the expanding Chinese and western presence evoked strong post-colonial emotions, development of gray areas); (iv) the emergence of global jihad, its establishment in Africa, its dissemination through Dawah arrays formed in Africa. The above, as well as additional reasons contributed to the emergence of the Salafi organizations in Africa. These organizations directly threaten the peace and stability in the continent, and indirectly threaten Europe and beyond. Hassan al-Turabi, the leading ideologist of political Islam in Africa, who provided refuge to Osama Bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders when he served as the acting leader of Sudan in the 1990s, described the situation very well. Al-Turabi explained in an interview that: “the Islam that is rapidly spreading in Africa these days is a different kind of active Islam - it is not a private 3 version of the lethargic Sufism. It enters into policy, economy, culture and education”1. In other words, the next world philosophy, the grand discourse that will replace the failed communism, will be Islam - the radical one, of course2. Islam in Africa provides solutions for grave social issues that plague the countries and stem from the fact that the social basis in Africa is tribal and the competition among tribes is destructive and lethal. Political Islam, per the radicals, touches on all aspects of life - it is all encompassing. In a Muslim society, there are no separate entities for church and state and the idea of such separation is meaningless. Church and state are one entity. Political Islam enables one to overcome divisions that are connected to one’s origins. Islam has the answers to the ramifications of fitting people into a post-colonial state structure, a fit that destroyed social tribal systems and old traditions, drew new borders and prioritized large tribes in connection with a control of the state’s resources3. After the colonial era, in the 1960s, corrupt regimes emerged and were based on tribal, ethnic and religious affiliation. These regimes were also based on the support of the military and security forces that had to contend with the bare necessities (employment, education, infrastructure, healthcare…) among minorities (mostly Muslim in distant provinces) or among those who weren’t connected to the ruling party. The above fixed in certain countries such north eastern Nigeria or Mali, the notion that Islam and sharia provide an answer to all needs, including the legal ones, especially in light of the lack of effective state organs presence, intentional discrimination or lack of ability to govern.Islamic terrorism in Africa presents the new face of insecurity in Africa today. Long after serving as a means to claim political independence and sovereignty, radical Islam’s terrorism found a warm bosom in Algeria with the formation of the Sufi Underground for Preaching and Escalation (GSPC) that became al-Qaeda in the Maghreb 1 Yaroslav Trofimov, "Jihad Comes to Africa," Wall Street Journal 5 February 2016. http://www.wsj.com/articles/jihad-comes-to-africa-1454693025 2 The term “Political Islam” is connected to the tendency of certain radical movements to present politics as Islam’s main arena and their desire to reestablish a califate that per them has existed in the distant past. The term itself describes conservative or fundamentalist political ideology that governs society, economy and laws of the country 3 Due to poverty, discrimination, alienation and political persecution, many Africans in different countries seek solace in Islam and even adopted extreme ideologies that serve as Petrie Dishes for the growth of terrorism. The terrorist organizations on their part, preach the people that their troubles began once the western concepts have been implemented in their country following the colonialism and that Islam – alongside toppling over governments that do not embrace radical Islam – is the answer to their misery. 4 (AQIM) in January 20074. This group’s actions inspired the spread of other sub-regional terrorist groups in the continent. With the exception of South Africa that these days seems relatively safe from jihadist danger, despite its proximity to Mozambique, the rest of the continent is threatened by terrorist groups desiring to realize their dream - building a real Ummah for Muslim faithful, one that is clear of infidels. If the common goal of all these Islamist groups is to from an Islamic order then it is obvious that the entire continent presents a certain uniqueness of jihad. In other words, the Maghreb Sahel, the Horn of Africa, Central Africa and the great lakes all experience a kind of terrorism that is unique in its core, manifestation, means and actors. Major Arenas and Radical Islamic Organizations Active Therein (Partial List): 1. Somalia - al-Shabab that is affiliated with al-Qaeda. 2. Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger) - Macina Liberation Front (FLM), Katiba Serma, Ansar Dine, Ansaroul Islam, Islamic State of the Greater Sahara ((ISGS), AQIM Sahara, Al Mourabituon, Katiba Salahedinne. All are either formally or informally associated with a consortium of groups linked to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) known as Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM). 3. Nigerian and Lake Chad - Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa (ISWA) 4. North Africa (Maghreb) - AQIM Ansar al-Sharia, Islamic State. 5. Central Africa - Seleka 6. Mozambique - Ahlu Sunnah wa Jama’a (ASWJ), Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP). Mozambique Arena Mozambique is a former Portuguese colony (gained its independence on July 25th, 1975). Mozambique developed as two different entities divided by the Zambezi River. The north relies on agriculture, its residents along the coast are influenced by the Swahili culture. The south is dependent on South Africa and on gold trade. The country is considered poor (GDP per capita 4 The GSPC, an Algerian terrorist faction in the Algerian civil war, was formed in 1998 by Hassan Hattab, a former area commander for the GIA-Armed Islamic Group.
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